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Tony Maciulis is a CBS News producer based in New York.

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Don’t call it a comeback. Cyndi Lauper has never left the scene.

What she has done in the 25 years since "She’s So Unusual" is experiment, stretch her skills, and thumb her nose at an industry that loves its talent delivered in easily definable boxes. Admittedly, that isn’t always a recipe for commercial success.

"Bring Ya to the Brink" is Lauper’s first album of original material in 12 years, and a world apart from the moody, raw covers on "The Body Acoustic" or "At Last." It’s full on, sweaty, gritty dance. Not the overly electronicized version one generally hears from pop divas of a certain age, but a kind of sound that says “retro” in a good way. “Into the Nightlife” will wear a groove into your iPod as you click play again and again, transported to the Limelight circa 1995. It’s infused with dry ice and beer stains, like the club scene before it was wrapped in velvet.

The album won critical praise and a Grammy nod.

Lauper’s a contender this Sunday in “Best Electronic/Dance Album,” more than two decades after winning the Grammy for “Best New Artist” in 1985. What follows is an e-mail interview.

1. How do you go from covering “La Vie En Rose” to a full-on dance album?

I have been lucky enough as an artist to be able to shift gears easily and jump into various genres, so I don’t really see it as a stretch ...

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Tony Maciulis is a CBS News producer based in New York.

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Don’t call his work “ripped from the headlines.” Novelist Richard North Patterson may write about some very timely themes, but he is generally ahead of the headlines.

His latest novel, "Eclipse," his fifteenth to date, was inspired by some historic events in Nigeria, but its implications will reach far into the future.

We had a chance to chat with him via email and telephone.

Q. You are not one to shy away from controversial subjects in your novels. You’ve written about abortion, gun control, the conflict in the Middle East – just about everything they tell us not to talk about at dinner parties! What inspired you to write about oil in Africa?

A. The genesis of "Eclipse" lies in tragic events that occurred in Nigeria almost fifteen years ago, when a courageous environmental activist, Kent Saro-Wiwa, was hanged by General Sani Abacha, the country’s brutal and corrupt dictator. The crime of which Saro-Wiwa stood accused, on flimsy evidence, was ordering the murder of four local chiefs who were his political rivals within the Ogoni, Sari-Wiwa’s ethnic group. The tribunal that tried him was summoned into existence by Abacha and answerable to him alone; its arbitrary proceedings had little in common with courts as we know them, or with other courts in Nigeria. In the minds of most observers, Saro-Wiwa’s true crime was to protest the excesses of the government and petroleum companies in the Niger Delta, and to seek for the Ogoni and others at least some of the benefits accruing to the oil companies and the kleptocratic regime of General Abacha. To this day ...

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Just forty-eight days from now, more than a 100 million Americans will go to the polls and elect a new president.

We're choosing not just a political party or a set of policies, we're choosing a person. Either John McCain or Barack Obama will bring his own values and beliefs - his strengths and weaknesses - to the White House. Of course, issues matter enormously, and Where They Stand will affect how you live.

But so will the character and leadership of the man himself - his judgment in crisis, his response to adversity, his calm in a storm.

That's why we're launching Presidential Questions on tonight's CBS Evening News. Every Wednesday until the election, you will see both candidates answer the same questions, and you'll be able to judge for yourself.

A Greek philosopher said, "a man's character is his fate." For the president of the United States, character isn't just his fate - it's ours as well.

Tonight, we're airing the inaugural piece in our series, "Presidential Questions." It's the first in a weekly series in which we'll show you the presidential candidates' answers to questions Katie asked them - both about their politics and about their character. If you saw our series, "Primary Questions," you'll recognize the format. Tune in tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET for the candidates' full answers. But for now, a taste:

Katie Couric: What one personal flaw do you think might hinder your ability to be president?

Sen. Barack Obama: I don't think ... there's a flaw that would hinder my ability ... to function as president. I think that all of us have things we need to improve.

Sen. John McCain: You know I'm not an objective observer. I think that would have to be to make sure that I don't make any decisions that are not fully informed by every source of information that's credible I can possibly get.

We've been busy preparing for the Democratic and Republican National conventions in Denver and St. Paul (don't call it Minneapolis!). And as we at CBSNews.com and CNET.com are partnering to bring you live, exclusive Web coverage of the conventions, we'd like to enlist your help.

Of course, there's something in it for you, too. This is your opportunity to ask Katie and the CBS News Political Team the questions you want answered about the conventions, the candidates ... or anything about the politics of the moment you can dream up.

After the live Webcast of the special on-air coverage from 10 to 11 p.m. EDT, Katie will host a Web-only show where she host a roundtable - armed with your questions.

Want to be part of the action? Head over to the DNC and RNC Convention Cast pages to submit your questions. You can also watch Katie explain this all a bit more below:

Nancy Ramsey is a contributor to CBSNews.com

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Everyone could use a refresher course in American history. And we’re not just talking about Dana Perino, the White House press secretary who didn’t know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was—and then admitted it publicly.

Last year two friends, David Kidder and Noah Oppenheim, wrote a book called "The Intellectual Devotional: Review Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class”—a collection of 365 cool facts, tidbits and anecdotes certain to make you a more well-rounded person (and get off the computer for a while). One entry per day. Entries such as The Atom, Whistler’s Mother, Hypnosis, Sodom and Gomorrah, Claude Monet, Idealism, Pragmatism. The book became a bestseller; they’ve got a great team of PhDs doing the research, the entries are fun to read, and now they’ve written another one: "The Intellectual Devotional, American History: Review Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently about Our Nation’s Past”.

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1. Noah, what’s your favorite entry?

My favorite is about Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to ever run for president. She was a colorful character. She was an advocate of free love. It’s one of those awesome little barroom trivia topics that form the rich tapestry of American history.

I support that, women running for president, and free love. Hey, don’t put that last answer in your 10 Questions.

2. But it’s a good answer, and we’re on the record. David, your favorite?

Central Park. I spent lots of time in New York City. The city built it because of all the immigration, because they felt public space and light was vital to the psychology of city dwellers. The park was designed with the intent to be classless, which is very American, very melting pot.

3. This is the age of Google and Wikipedia. Anyone with Internet access can get this information in an instant. Why the book?...

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Tony Maciulis is a producer for CBSNews.com based in New York.

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The "Primary Questions" series has sparked lots of conversations worth sharing on the blog. Katie interviewed 10 presidential contenders, and asked them 10 key questions ranging from their biggest fears to their biggest mistakes.

In the installments already aired on the CBS Evening News, the candidates have revealed something of their character and judgment--and given voters a better picture of who they really are.

Katie sat down earlier today to answer my 10 Questions about her 10 Questions.

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1. Why a series focusing primarily on character and the core values of the candidates, as opposed to policy?

We are going to spend a lot of time talking about policy positions and differences after there are two nominees, and certainly we've covered them in recent months. But we had an opportunity here to sit down with every candidate, and we wanted to get beyond positions that many people have heard at debates or seen on their websites.

We wanted a more revelatory interview in terms of character and the things that make them the people they are. I wouldn't advise voters to use this exercise alone to determine who they should support, but there is something to be said for understanding someone's humanity and character and integrity through answers to personal questions.

Character is critical in defining a presidency. When the rubber meets the road in a time of crisis, oftentimes the president’s character dictates what he or she will do.

2. You interviewed five Democrats and five Republicans. Why not all the contenders...?

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Nancy Ramsey is a contributor to CBSNews.com

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Last week in New York the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) honored reporters from Pakistan, Russia, Mexico and China—journalists who have risked their lives investigating corruption, organized crime, arms smuggling, even the murder of three of their colleagues. When we called CPJ to hear more about the honorees, we learned that one, Gao Qinrong, from China, would not be attending because his government had denied him a passport.

Gao had uncovered a scam irrigation project in his home province—a striking example of local authorities’ self-aggrandizement and corruption. For writing that story, Gao spent eight years in prison; he was released last December. When CPJ asked us if we wanted to talk with him (through a translator), we of course leaped at the chance.

1. Mr. Gao, thanks so much for speaking with us, and let’s start, more or less, at the beginning. Tell us about the story you wrote that ultimately put you in prison.

It was about a fake irrigation project in Yuncheng, a city in Shanxi Province, which is southwest of Beijing. This project was costing the government about $38 million, and it was a scam.

It’s a region that doesn’t get much rain, so people are very dependent on the weather. In 1995, local leaders learned about a foreign irrigation technology that they thought might solve the region’s problems. It involved
building these large pools with pipes in the bottom to collect water. But the soil wasn’t the right quality. It was sandy and sticky, not suitable for this type of irrigation. Agriculture experts agreed from the start that it wouldn’t work, but the leader of the district, Huang Youquan, wanted personal glory, he wanted to enrich himself and enhance his reputation, so they began this huge building project.

2. Who were you working for at the time? Was this a story that your editors assigned?

I was working for the Xinhua News Agency, the state news agency. I found the story myself. One day I was traveling to Yuncheng from my home in Taiyuan, which is the provincial capital, and I overheard people on the train making jokes, in the form of a rhyme, or a proverb, about how whenever you walked down a road, there were these empty pools being built.

Of course I was very interested when I heard them talking, and I worked on the story for about a month...

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Nancy Ramsey is a contributor to CBSNews.com.

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With Thanksgiving coming up, food is on everyone’s mind. But it’s long been on the mind of Judith Jones, who’s just written a delightful book called “The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food.” Jones is now in her early 80s and continues to work as an editor at Knopf. She brought the diary of Anne Frank to the United States and edited such greats as John Updike, John Hersey (“Hiroshima”) and Anne Tyler.

And...she introduced us to Julia Child. When “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” wasn’t enough for Jones, she turned to finding talented cooks who could bring into our kitchens the secrets of Italian cooking (Marcella Hazan), Chinese cooking (Irene Kuo and Nina Simonds), Indian cooking (Madhur Jaffrey), good American cooking (James Beard and Edna Lewis), and more.

(By the way, the tenth muse is Gasterea, so summoned by Brillat-Savarin, a French politician and lawyer who lived during the French Revolution and loved food: “Tell me what you eat,” he wrote, “and I will tell you what you are.”)

So with palettes watering, we posed this week’s 10 Questions (well, OK, 11 since we felt like indulging ourselves) to Judith Jones.

1. The holidays are coming up. What are you making for Thanksgiving?

I always love a goose, not only because it’s delicious and rich, but you can put away all that good goose grease for the winter and use it for frying potatoes, all sorts of things. It’s pure fat, and now we’re learning it’s good for us! It’s not hydrogenated. And I’ll make stuffing with tart apples from Vermont, and chestnuts. Always chestnuts.

2. In “The Tenth Muse,” you talk about the food of your childhood—“unadulterated English-style food.” Your mother’s food shopping was “invariably done by phone, as though to keep a distance from the things of the earth,” and if you “indulged in appreciative sounds like ‘yum-yum,’” you could be sent from the table...

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